Casting mold and pattern and process



Dec. 1, 1959 x. L. BEAN CASTING MOLD AND PATTERN AND PROCESS Original Filed Dec. 4, 1950 INVENTOR I 6J9, A RNEYS.

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g/fly 2o p CASTING MOLD Xarifa L. Bean, Yellow Springs, Ohio, assignor to Morris United States Patent AND PATTERN AND PROCESS Bean & Company, Yellow Springs, Ohio, a corporation '1 ofOhio Original application December 4, 1950, Serial No. 199,006, now Patent No. 2,836,867, dated June3, 1958.

Divided and this application August 16, 1956, Serial No. 610,432

5 Claims. Cl. 22 -126 This invention relatesto molds for thecasting of molten materials, and more particularly to molds of highly refractory materials, such, for example, as silica sand, which are suitable for use in the production of smooth, accurate and sound castings of a wide variety of sizes and shapes, of iron, bronze and other relatively high melting alloys.

.-;A mold for precision casting, especially one suitable for the precision casting of ferrous and other high meltmg alloys, must not only be refractory enough to withstand'the pouring temperature of the metal but must present sucha'smooth surface as to give the desired surface to the metal as cast. The surface of the mold must also be sufficiently permeable and with a suificiently permeablebackingto support the metal at the I desired surface but to provide for the ready escape of gases and vapors; .Obviouslysuch a mold should be relatively cheap, as to labor, material and equipment costs; also it should be easy to remove after the casting has cooled or set. v t

It is therefore one object of. the invention to provide improved molds for casting of metals. It is an object to provide a-high degree of accuracy, high strength and rigidity in the mold. rItisalsoanobjectito 'provide in'a refractory castingmold, for casting high temperature metals'sucli as ferrous alloys and bronzes, a surface as smooth and true as that produced by plasterrnolds with low temperature metals. I

In. general the invention aims to provide molds (and cores, which'are here considered a type of mold) particularly of highly refractory materials, which are suitable forcthe production of castings of all sizes (as distinguished from the necessarily'small castings made by .investment molding? over wax or plastic patterns), in a wide variety of metals, and particularly precision castings of ferrous and other high melting alloys.

hOther objects and the'manner in which the objects are achieved will appear from the following description and claims. r To thisend, the invention relates to an improved mold of desired properties anddimensions and to a refractory mold'material, such as'quartz sand of suitable degrees of fineness, and with strength, permeabilityand surface character modified 'by used a bindef; and, if desired, of surfacing materials. r t

The invention also relates to molds and materials for molds such. that uniformly successfulresults can be obtained, on molds of a wide variety of size and design,

under commercially practical and economical processing conditions. i V

In the manufacture of such molds, inventions of my parent application Serial No. 199,006, filed December 4, .1950, maybe used to advantage. For example, in the'preferred utilization of the invention the pattern over which the mold ,isto be formed is made of a material which initially has suflicient rigidity to hold its forrn,surface. character and dimensions withhigh fidelity at room temperature and under necessary conditions of handling 2 in foundry practice and under the heat to which the mold material must be subjected for setting the binder and until the mold has become self-sustaining. The preferred pattern material is also of such a nature that it is gradually transformed by the same treatment which sets up the bond in the mold material so that at the end of the bindersetting treatment, the pattern material will have been disintegrated, or its disintegration initiated, e;g., by the binder becoming fragile or friable (or sensitive to water or air. or other readily available material) so that it can readily be disintegrated and removed from the mold.

Ithas been found as set forth in my copending application Serial No. 199,006, filed December 4, '1950 that a suitable pattern material for the purposes aforesaid is a plaster composition comprising a substantial portion (e:g. 20%100% calcium sulfate) with or without filler. The material used and the method of forming 'it into any desired shape, as described in US. Letters'Patent to Morris Bean, No. 2,220,703, granted November 5, l940,-h'ave been found suitable for this purpose, and dimension stabilizing agents may beused, e.g. those set forth in my Patent No. 2,391,855 and application Serial No. 125,645, filed November 4, 1949, now Patent No. 2,531,496; but the recrystallization treatments are not necessary.'- The use of such plasters, which give strengths on initial set of '50200 p.s.i., allows for ordinary compounding with fillers such, for example, as sand, talc, re-used'plaster, terra alba, etc. (which, as is well known, reduce the set strength) and still leaves adequate strength to the set plaster forl prompt removal from the pattern mold and for the necessary handling in ordinary foundry practice without damage to the pattern such as would. destroy its accuracy of detail in reproducing the molding surface,

The plaster of Paris composition thus used may preferably rial, but impalpable powdery materials like clays, and

even dusts which may occur and need to be separated from asbestos or talc, are likely to impair desired physical properties. Fibrous materials, if used, should be of short fiber length. i 7

It is advantageous to use enough water in the plaster mix to give it fluiditysuch that it readily flows into c'on-' formity with the fine detail of the pattern mold, but more water in the mix can be undesirable. I can also use a stiffer plastic composition with only enough water to make it moldable, and in some cases it is desirable to use plaster of Paris with no other solid ingredients. The useiof resilient flexible materials for the pattern molds,

' such as the elastic vinyl polymer gels as set forth in said' with undercuts. I p

(4) Good accuracy (plus.or minus .0001 to .0005" per inch deviation when cast over a master pattern); A

I (5) Good'dimensional-'stability, especially when mixed with a filler such as sand,at somewhat elevated temperatures (to 400 degrees F.). I

(6) A porous structure that contains ffee-waterQor can be made to contain-other fluidslas 'a' 'means of achieving the desir'edresirlts. also astructure which .will permit the introduction by drivingor other simple vibrating the pattern which holds it.

means, of certain metallicblades, pins or other insertslater to be incorporated as a part of the final casting.

(7) Very easy wastability, especially if dehydrated by a suflicient heating process. It has been found that if a calcium sulfate bonded pattern or pattern mold is heated, especially to the soluble anhydrite condition, it is easily Wasted, either by an air jet (generally the preferred method) or by water. If sufficiently dehydrated, plaster is mmersed in water it is quickly transformed to a wet mass having the consistency of a loose mud, which is easily washed away, even by tap water, though increased Water pressures increase the speed of removal. (If set gypsum plaster which is not dehydrated is immersed in water, it is not affected, and will maintain nearly its normal set strength for several days.)

The next step in making molds using materials of the present invention is dependent somewhat upon the character of the material employed to coat the pattern. In the preparation of a mold for greatest smoothness of surface and minuteness and accuracy of detail, three factors are important:

(1) The particles on the surface must be of sufficient smallness of size to give the surface quality desired.

(2) All particles must be packed closely together.

(3) Each particle of the mold must be bonded sufficiently well to its neighbors so that pattern removal will not dislodge it.

The extent to which conditions 2 and 3 are met determines the quality of result which can be obtained with particles which are small, but still of such character that a mold body, if made out of these same particles, will have good permeability to gases It is surprising the surface quality which can be obtained, for example, by perfect packing and bonding of that fraction of a washed round grained sand, such as an Ottawasand, which will pass through a 100 mesh screen. Ordinarily the green bond which has to be relied upon in conventionally drawing a sand mold from a pattern is not sufiiciently strong so that those grains which are packed into sharp corners or minute detail can be removed with the mold, so that though surfaces may be fairly smooth, sharp cornerswill have lost their true sharpness. As has been explained, the bond which holds the sand grains together is very strong, especially when it has been fully developed by a heating process, before the pattern is removed, and the pattern has been weakened to such an extent that removal is very easy and cannot damage the set mold.

- In order to get perfect packing, it is desirable that the sand be dry, so that it will flow like a fluid, and that it be made to occupy the minimum possible volume, as by In order to get perfect bonding, it is necessary that the bonding agent be present and effective (especially strong enough to resist damage in pattern removal) at the points of contact of the sand grains. By proper selection of sand, binder, and method of distribution of binder, it is possible by forming it, according to the present invention, against a disposable pattern such as that described below, to make a mold with a single kind of sand which will have surface smoothness, accuracy and castability (permeability and refractoriness) so that the casting obtained therein has the required properties as cast. For example, it has been possible and practical to make castings of gray iron for tire molds by this method which meet the exacting requirements of the trade. i

The best binders for the purposes herein described are of the class known as thermo-setting resins which are adhesives to sand, .Several phenolic-type resins have already come into use for the bonding of sand in foundry molds, and we have found these very, satisfactory for the present invention. However,' other drying or settable binders, whether set by heat or by catalyst, can be used in the invention. i

The etfectivenessgof a binder in this invention is not only a matter of its adhesivenessand strength, but also of its distribution. It is so diflicult to obtain, and particudarly to maintain, satisfactory binder distribution for the exacting requirements of castings of unusual quality that I have found it desirable, in utilizing this invention, to make a separate step of binder distribution which makes possible (1) complete distribution and continuous coating of each grain of sand, (2) a dry, free-flowing sand, easily distributed and closely and uniform-1y packed over a pattern, and capable of developing a strong bond at every .point of contact of sand grains with each other.

One very satisfactory method of distributing the binder is by means of a volatile solvent. The sand, binder and solvent are mixed together and mixing is continued until the sand is coated with a lacquer-like coating of resin, and the coated sand is again dry and free flowing. Good materials to use, for example, are a phenol formaldehyde resin such as the Bakelite Division of Union Carbide & Carbon Corporations BR15401, or BR18554 or BR18478, and a volatile solvent such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, alcohol, etc. In general, from 1% to 4% by weight of binder is used and from 1% to 4% of solvent. One very satisfactory formula is 100 kg. of screened Ottawa sand, 2 kg. BR18478, and 3000 cc. acetone. A conventional sand muller Works very well for the mixing operation.

Sand thus coated will bond perfectly, even if heated in the presence of a large, wet disposable pattern. If the resin is distributed in finely divided form by conventional means e.g., by means of the use of a diluent (whether as a powder or with the resin suspended in water or other non-solvent liquid, or as the commercial liquid binder) it is likely to be subject to migration into the wastable pattern, so as to seriously interfere with the separation from the mold, or to sintering without bonding, and not to remain effectively distributed.

For the proper distribution of binder it is very important to use an amount of the resin which can be distributed over the surfaces of the granular material and be held thereto without sifting or draining through the mass. Thus one may realize the uniform, high quality results of this invention. It is important also for securing the most efiective use per unit cost of binder.

Although it is possible to make a smooth, accurate mold out of a single kind of sand, such as described, it is frequently more satisfactory to use a fine sand for a facing layer, and a coarser sand for a back up. This is done by taking a fine fraction of the coated sand (through a 140 or through a 200 'mesh screen, for example) and pouring it over the' damp disposable pattern. The fine particles will stick as a very thin layer to the damp surface of the disposable pattern, and the balance can be poured out. A 70 or' a 50 mesh sand can then be poured in, the whole mass vibrated, and a very satisfactory total result obtained. This procedure puts the fine sand on the surface of the mold, where it is needed for smoothness,. sharpness, and reproduction of detail, and permits the use of a more permeable backing.

A very good result can be obtained by using a disposable plaster-bonded pattern just as it is made, Without any further preparation. However, if desired, it can be dampened or saturated with (e.g. by dipping in) a non-solvent liquid such as water, oil, or kerosene, or otherwise treated so that temporary adhesion of every particleof the fine sand layer is assured for smoothness and accuracy of surface reproduction. No difficulty is experienced in separatingthe finished, baked mold from the disposable pattern when a coated facing sand is used as described, as there is no opportunity for the resin toperietrate the surface'of the disposable pattern in any way.

By themeans just described, as fine and as refractory a surfacing layer as desired can be made, and also as permeable a mold body as is necessary for the conditions ofcasting.

Ihe'n old is madeto any desired depth and dimenarters iaiis'. been founddesirable, in general, to make molds of sufli'cientrthicknes's so that distortion due to bending during casting will not occur. Differential thermal expansiontbetween the side nextto the metal and the side furthest removed)v may cause mold distortions (which are reflected in the casting) greater thancan be tolerated in castings which must meet high standards of accuracy. It has been found that any strongly bonded sand, such as conventional core sand, will distort amounts which", are prohibitive for accurate work, unless corrective measures are used. This is a distortion similar to shrinkage) in the total mass of sand.

It has also beenfound thatthe" presence of other binders, such as urea formaldehyde resins, or hydrosetting cements, which first bond the sand at a lower. temperature than the phenol formaldehyde binders, will set the mass a constant volume before any shrinkage occurs and accuracy, not only of surfaces supported or contacted by the wastable pattern, but of the whole' voltime of sand, will be the'result. Such auxiliary binders are not necessary; and whether one is used will depend largely upon special requirements of the mold and casting to be made. Other thermo-sctting binders and also low temperature setting binders may be used in lieu of the phenolformaldehyde resins, but my experience has shown that advantageis gained by use of the type of resin specified above.

It is an important characteristic of this combination described that thesand mold is bonded so as to have its form fixed before any serious dimensional changes occur in the plaster pattern. When,at higher temperatures, such dimensional changes may tend to-occur in the plaster, the mold is already stronger than the pattern.

An alternativemethod to the one here described for obtaining a smooth, accurate mold surface against the disposable pattern is to make a liquid slurry of a fine refraot$ry and binder. A most satisfactory slurry conslsts offi'nely divided silica sand, or silica sand and clay, a combination ofdry powder and liquid phenolic binders in about equal amounts, and a liquid vehicle. It has been found that again the problem of resin distribution is .very important, and that a water vehicle and a combination of the two commercial forms ofphenolic binder give the most practical results. The combination binder,

of both dry and liquid forms, will bond the fine facing sand much more effectively in the presence of a large,

wct, disposable pattern, than either used alone. Another satisfactory method of making a slurry is to coat the fine refractory particles with solvent and dry resin as described above, and then add the water or other liquid vehicle. Since the dry resin is insoluble in water or' other suitable liquid vehicle, it will remain effectively coated on the refractory particles in the presence of the vehicle, and during the curing operation.

"If a wet slurry is used, it is usually necessary to apply a separating layer to the disposable pattern before the mold is made.

Otherwise adhesion may occur between the-disposable pattern and the cured sand mold and it is very difiicult to remove the pattern from the finished mold except by disintegrating it with water and washing it off.

' Though good results can be obtained inthis way, it is often awkward, and messy, especially enlarge work, to disintegrate with water and requires separation of the plaster from the water in settling basins or tanks and redrying of the mold before casting.

Asuitable parting is a solution or commerciaifiexible collodion in acetone,jwhich is applied as'aspray tothe surface of the disposable pattern. B'eforethe spray is applied, the disposablepattern is saturated with water so that'the collodion solution cannot penetrate it, and in itself prevent theeflective separation of the r'nold from the pattern. The collodion makes an excellent (continuous and extremely thin) separating filin, and the finished mold when set can easily be freed from the disposable pattern by means of an air blast. The collodion film adheres to the binder in the slurry coat and is thus transferred to the mold in the baking step. (the temperature of the bak-f ing in such case being kept below that at which the collodion coat would be destroyed) and'thus it serve s'to protect the surface duringthe cleaning and subsequent handling of the mold. It is quickly burned off in the casting step with no difiiculty in the casting process or damage to the final casting.

Smooth films of refractory powders, especially of pigment grade, such as graphite, red iron oxide, aluminum, alumina, etc. can be used to form separating layers'also, and frequently with important advantages, but means have to be provided to hold them in place on the surface of the disposable pattern so that the slurry does not dislodge or lift them. These are best applied as dry powder while the surface of the pattern is moist with water or other liquid which will hold a very thin layer and allow any localized excess to be redistributed by blowing or light brushing. A spray of potash soap or other soap applied overthe pigment is an effective means of doing this. The cal ciumsoap produced where the. soap solution meets the calcium plaster forms an insoluble film by which the powder is held, so that, during application of the slurry coat, the powder is held in place to perform its function as a separating layer. Inv the baking step, the refractory powder will become bonded to the mold surfaceby the bonding agent in the slurry, and will form the outermost surface layer of the finished mold, and most faithfully reproduce the sharpness and detail thereof. In cases where special surfacingflayers are desired on molds, by reason of chemical, physical, economic or other factors encountered in making castings, this is an excellent method of achieving the desired result easily and effectively, and especially without loss of surface detail or accuracy.

The slurry coat is preferably sprayed againstthe waste mold, so as to avoid trapping of air, although itcan be poured over the waste mold and promptly poured out so above pointed out is made with avery fine sand, or other refractory so that the face of the mold that forms the casting will be smooth and will reproduce accurately the finer detail of the pattern, a rigid backing is formed thereon, and this backing is made more permeable than the facing. The backingmaterial may be introduced as a dry mixture of sand and binder, preferably. a coated sand such as has been described, and which has the advantage of flowing freely and uniformly into all corners and making a completely continuous. support for the slurry coat; or it may be as a wet mixture, which has the advantage of having some green strength and ability to remain packed in position without the benefit of complete external flasks or other support. The wet material is not as '(not air dried or robbed of water-by the Wicking action of the disposable pattern) whenxthe backing is applied.

' This permits individual grains ofback-up sand to bed themselves in the slurry coat, which seems to be impor- 7 tant if the-best bond is to be developed. As noted previously, it is an advantage for the mold to be made thick or heavy if distortions .due to bending in casting are to be avoided.

The desired mold having been built up in the manner hereinabove described, the mold and pattern assembly is now ready for the baking operation which is done at a temperature and time sufficient to set the resinbinder. When the thermo-setting binders employed are the. phenolic resins hereinabove suggested, the baking may be carried out satisfactorily at a temperature within the range of 400 F. to 475 F. The length of time required for the complete setting of the resin, varying somewhat with the size of the mold and running usually anywhere from 3 to 12 hours. In general it is, advantageous to bake the molds at a temperature which will not overcure part of the mold so long as other portions slower to heat up are not yet sufficiently baked.

.It will beseen that, because of the water in the pattern, the temperature of the pattern and of the mold will not immediately be raised to the resin-setting temperature for setting the phen olic type resin; and that as a matter of fact the temperature will not increase much above the boiling point of water or other saturant in the pattern until the pattern is dry and at least partially dehydrated. It is this fact which makes it so important as explained previously that special means be provided for obtaining and maintaining effective distribution of the resin, so that it cannot migrate under conditions of slowly rising temperature, or sinter without bonding; and as an alternative, makes desirable the use of resins which set at lower temperatures and/or in the presence of water vapor. It is ordinarily desirable to evaporate the water as quickly and uniformly as possible, and therefore good circulation of dry air should be maintained in the oven.

After the pattern is dried .the temperature rises above that at which the bonding resin is set or cured and above that at which the disintegration of the pattern is initiated-in the case of plaster patterns by dehydration of the calcium sulfate. It will be seen that in the preferred operation, the dehydration of the plasterpattern takes place as a result of the heating used for setting the resin, and this dehydration makes the pattern relatively weak and disposable, and as the calcium sulfate has been converted into soluble anhydrite, it is in condition which can easily be further weakened by soaking with water. The pattern is thus easily removed from the now set and self-sustaining mold e.g., by being broken away and by the use of a jet of compressed air to lift .outany portions which remain embedded in mold recesses. Although the air blast method of cleaning the residual pattern material out of the molds is preferred, since this leaves the mold ready for immediate use after its removal from the pattern, it is also possible to effect removal of the pattern by soaking the mold and pattern in water and using a water jet to remove pattern particles from the deep recesses of the mold, 'but in such case removal must be completed promptly because the plaster will re-set before long, after it has been wet. Another advantage of the air jet method'is that it permits use of mold compositions which would be deteriorated by water. Thus in some cases one may advantageously use bentonite, cereals, or water soluble or swellable binders, especially in the backing layer, applied before or after the final treatment of the mold face and'this could only be practicableif the removal is done without the use of water.

When the casting to be made is such as requiresinserts, as for example machined threads, sheet metal parts or wire, etc., to form narrow projections from the mass of the casting, this can be done according to my invention by driving these into the plaster pattern in the appropriate locations and depths, or by placing them in the molding pattern and casting plaster around them, with the desired portions projecting iforanchoring in the cast ing mold. In this manner, for example, we 'have successfully cast tire molds with-inserts of 18-,-8 stainless steel strips for making non-skid divisions in the tire tread, although that had previously been found impossible in cast iron molds due to a change in the steel from Austenitic to Martensitic.

From the foregoing description of the invention it will be seen that the practice of the novel process of making molds for precision casting of metals, and particularly for the precision casting'of ferrous and other high melting alloys, which has been .described hereinabove results in the production of an accurate smooth mold which does not depend at all for its smoothness on a wash, dip or other surface smoothing treatment, but, reproduces with high fidelity the surface of the original. Moreover, such a mold can be made with any desired permeability, over 10 and advantageously from 50 to 200 as measured on a standard A.F.A. test piece in accordance with the standards set up by the American Foundrymans Associa-' tion. It will further be seen that by the present invention it ispossible to make a one-piece mold using a disposable pattern, as hereinabove described, notwithstanding undercuts such that, if a rigid permanent pattern were used, it could not be withdrawn therefrom.

An important feature of the invention when practiced as hereinabove described is that, although the mold, as it is built up on the pattern, has substantially no strength until the bonding resin is set, the pattern employed is initially strong at room temperature and maintains its form and dimensional stability. during the binder setting operation and until the mold has acquired sufficient strength to hold its form andv dimensions; whereas the pattern loses its strength so that it can be readily disintegrated or broken away from the mold after the mold has thus gained its strength.

The mold produced by the process hereinabove described, that is the mold that is obtained after the baking operation and after removal of the disposable pattern, may, if it is desirable, be combined with other parts or incorporated as part of a larger mold before casting. It may be used in combination with green sand mold parts, conventional baked sand cores, chills, inserts or other foundry mold materials within the skill of the foundryman.

When the mold is used for casting high melting alloys, for example those which are cast above a temperature of 1200 C., the heat will cause disintegration of the binder. In other words, the binder will be charred to carbon and may be substantially oxidized,'but not before the metal has set to the shape of the mold. This'burning of the binder makes the mold very easy to remove from the finished casting, and thus adds to the economy of the process.

Although we find it highly advantageous to use plaster patterns according to this invention, other aspects of my invention can be more broadly applied. For example, we can use my invention in a modification of the lost wax process, wherein the pattern is made of any material which is readily formed to the pattern shape and which is: V

(l) Disintegrated by conversion to a pourable liquid or vapor at a temperature above the setting temperature of the thermo-setting bonding resin in the mold, so that it can hold its form and surface until the mold material is set up and thereafter can bepoured out through the mold gating or drained off through the porosity of ;the d;

(2) When melted, flows freely off from the moldsurface so that any residual film does not clog the permeability of the mold;

(3) Can be repeatedly remelted and reformed or is cheap enough to waste.

(4) Does not dissolve or chemicallyattack the bonding material in the mold. i l

"(5) Any residue retained on the mold does not obmentsz each -best suited to-the mentsiof a particular use. I *grln the drawings: Y

tern; which is generally fetfiioniably attack the molten metal, or other material which is to be cast into the mold;

(6) Is safe to use under plant conditions.

I I -Iigher melting point waxes (particularly the higher wax-like parafi'ins or so-called petroleum waxes) can thus be used in a lost-wax process using all of the mold making and metal casting features of my invention; and likewise patterns may be die-cast with die-casting alloys egg. of tin with lead and/or copper and antimony.

Such alloys are available which. melt at various temperatures from 380 F. up, so that one may be selected which melts a little above the curing temperature for setting up of the particular bonding resin being used. Thus, in the baking of the mold, it is first brought to setting temperature and after the mold is heated through hold its form during careful heating even after the wax issoftened and fuses, and that a good mold can be obtained in this way. I j

Although I give below a specific example and show thesame in accompanying drawings, and although I havegiven various specific preferences, recommendations and alternatives, it is to be understood that these are not-exhaustive or limiting of my invention but are illustrative and for the purpose of instructing others in the principles of the invention and how to modify it so that' theymay be able to use it in a variety of embodiconditions and require- .Figure 1 shows a flexible. resilient pattern mold ready for molding a disposable pattern therein;

.IIFigure 2 shows the pattern made from the molding pattern. mold inFigure 1 inverted and. ready for the' application of the mold material thereon;

Example illustrating the practical utilization of the invention, 1 have'shown the making of a steel mold for molding:

7 rubber or plastic (specifically shown as a tire mold). 1 A

suitable flexible resilient plastic is moldedover the articleor model'fin'this case a mold for rubber tires) to be reproduced, to 'produce'an accurate negative impression '10 of its surface. (Inthe case of a mold for, plastic articles,

as illustrated, this model willordinarily be a negativeor the plastic article made, for example, by casting plaster onto: such article or an .artistfs model of it.) For this pattern mold, an elastic gel of vinyl chloride and a suit-- able- 'plasticizer suchas 'tri-cresylphosphate has been found satisfactory. This pattern mold may also be made of-a'synthetic rubber,especially one of the class which is.

\ caused to vulcanize at room temperature by means of chemical accelerators. :It has been found by experience: that these synthetic rubbers have the advantage over the.

vinyl' gel that they can beformed to. greater dimensional" accuracy and retain their dimensional stability over longer periods of time. Usingthe vinyl gels for example, the operation'of making them is as described in" the patents of Morris Bean Nos. 2,435,643,2, 404,528 and 2,349,806 excepting; 'officourse, that here we make a negative pattern.

rii'ol'd 10 (i.e.,"a'negativeimpressionwith respect tothe metal casting to be made) instead of a'conventional pata positive with respect. to the meet casting.

The pattern mold 10 thus made can be used over and over, and plaster compositionwastable patterns l4'taken off it in rapid succession, with negligible deteriorationof the pattern mold from extended use.

The next step is to pour a plaster slurry into this pattern mold to make a positive pattern 14. This slurry. may advantageously be made of a base composition containing 40 parts of molding plaster, 50 parts of Ottawa sand approximately 50 mesh in size (Bond Sand") and 10 parts of talc. If desired approximately /2 part each of sodium silicate and Portlandcement may be added to 'increase the dimensional accuracy of the set composition. Also /2 to 2 parts of terra alba (calcium sulfate dihydrate in a finely divided powder form) may be added as an accelerator to bring the setting time into the 4 to 7 minute range which is so important to the economical commercial use of the pattern mold. The composition is made into a liquid slurry by the addition of approximately 54 parts of water to parts of the plaster composition.

This slurry is poured over the pattern mold, which contains it until it sets. When the plaster in the composition has set, the disposable pattern is removed from the pattern mold, intact with anaccurate impression of 'its surface. (The surface is formed entirely by the fine plaster and talc particles in the slurry, and the quality of the surface is not, impaired by the presence of the sand grains in the mixture. The sand is added because it is a cheap filler, and also because its' presence aids materially in easy disintegration in the disposal step.) The disposable pattern is now ready to be used in the further step ofmold making, t

The pattern is, in the preferred method of mold making, immediately covered with fine silica the individual grains of which have been coated with a dry, lacquerlike coating of phenol-formaldehyde resin binder BR18478. The coated particles are selected for size so as to give the desired surface smoothness, e.g., a silica sand in the range of particle sizes which pass through a 100 mesh screen and are held on a 250 mesh screen, and advantageously in the range to 250 mesh. A uniform, thin layer 16 of these fine, coated particles will be held to the disposable pattern by the water on its damp surface. -The surplus, which does not stick, is then poured out. The thickness of this surface layer of fine coated sand is to be determined by permeabilitythe gas-levelduring-pouring balance. The entire body of the mold can'be made ofsand fine enough to give a smooth surface with sharp definition, provided the interstices between grains are .not filled by finer particles which plug them up. When a particle size too small for the desired permeability of the whole mold body is chosen for the surface covering; its thickness will ordinarily be kept at /8- inch or less. If surface cracks or low surface permeability develop on baking, the thickness of the covering should be reduced.

The pattern is next covered by abody 18 of any desired amount of similarly coated Ottawa Bond Sand or Ottawa Banding Sand, selected on the basis of its per meability, volume change on heating, and cost in accord ancewith the requirements of the Work to be done. The pattern and sand are then vibrated together by suitable means to effect maximum packing of the sand. f

. The full screen analysis of a Bond Sand which we use is as follows:

More-specifically, the sands are prepared as follows; 150 to 250m'esh silica particles are mixed with of 'dry powdered phenolic 'resin grade BR18478. 3 liters swear I 1 of acetone. perlOO kg. of sand is introduced and mixing is continued until all of the acetone is evaporated. If desired the resin can be dissolved in the acetone before mixing and the solution mixed with the sand as above, but in a single step.

Ottawa Bond Sand or Ottawa Banding Sand is prepared in a like manner for the principal body of the mold.

Another method is to take or make a single sand having the range and percentage'of particle sizes desired for the two sands, coat them simultaneously and then sieve or otherwise separate out the desired fractions. This method assuresthat the final coated particles, especially for the surface coat, are of the desired particle size. r

The disposable pattern 14 and the mold material 16, ,18 applied thereon as described above is next put into an oven and baked in an atmosphere held at about 425 F. for 3 to 12 hours with good circulation maintained in the atmosphere of the oven. a

At the end of this time, as soon as it is cooled(or before it is cooled if desired) the mold 20 with its pattern 14 is readyfor pattern removal. The pattern is therefore broken with a light hammer into as many pieces as necessary to effect convenient removal, and any remaining portions lifted or disintegrated by a jet of air.

When' the plaster pattern material is all removed, it will be found that the particles of sand in the mold are individually secured in that no surface detail has been lost or in any way disturbed by the removal step, and that the surface to be reproduced in metal'has been most accurately and faithfully reproduced.

A sand mold is prepared in the usual manner, in an ordinary flask and with a standard pattern to form the rough back 21 of the mold cavityfor the metal casting 22, which in this case is an iron mold for rubber tires, in which only the face needs to have a true surface. If the back of the casting is desired to be smooth and accurate, the back of the mold also will be formed according to the invention.

The baked molds made as above described from the resin bonded sand are then carefully positioned (by means of indexing or other locating means) and are invested with green sand or other refractory material. In designing the final mold, it is gated and vented in accordance with known principles and skill of standard foundry practice and thereupon is ready for pouring the molten metal.

The casting of the metal is done at a temperature which will permit entry of the metal into all parts and recesses of the mold, but which will also permit quick solidification of the metal after this has been accomplished. The pouring temperature should be suificiently high to burn out the resin bond to 'a considerable depth, advantageously one to two inches, although a fraction of an inch is sufficient for successful removal of the mold in many cases.

After the metal has solidified and cooled, the mold sand is broken away and blown off with air pressure, and the surface of the casting will be found to be a substantially perfect reproduction of the pattern. Since a mold thus made is substantially pure silica and a com bustible binder, there is no burning on of mold particles to the surface of the casting (such as frequently occurs with more conventional types of molds for high melting alloys) and no blasting with sand or other drastic clean ing method is necessary to get the casting surface perfectly clean. V

This example may be modified in various ways:

Other refractories may be used beside silica, especially for the surfacing layer.

e The d sp bl a ratna ,b pP Q Waw onds in kerosene, and drained until there is no surplus ofkeroseneon themold surface, just prior to the application. of the dry, ,cqatedfines -of the surfacing layer.

12 This treatment will aid in the adhesion of said fines to said disposable pattern surface.

More or less binder (than 3%) may be used, depending on the conditions of the part being made. In general, the binder percentage will range between /2% and 5%. The resin coating on individual grains of sand should be of the order of .0001 to .001", or stated in another way the volume of resin in the coatings, uniformly distributed over the grain surfaces, should be between .1% and 5% of the intersticial volume of the sand without the coating.

A single, carefully selected fine sand may be used for the whole mold, instead of a surfacing layer and a back up layer.

The disposable pattern may be removed by an immersion in water and a washing process rather than by the means described. The mold is then redried to prepare it for casting.

Other binders may be substituted for BR18478, such as a natural wood resin, or other suitable settable binder material.

Auxiliary binders, selected for their ability to maintain a constant volume in the sand mass during curing, may

be introduced, e.g. urea formaldehyde binders. These should be such fine powder or such thin suspension or solution that they bond in the crevices between adjacent particles without holding the particles apart. Such auxiliary binder may be used by moistening the sand and then dusting with powder of the auxiliary binder, or by wetting the sand with a slurry of the binder. Setting will be by exposure to water, heating or other method depending on the binder selected.

Other materials may be introduced for the purpose of building certain necessary or desired foundry properties into the mold; e.g. wood fiour for the purpose of reducing bending due to induced thermal stresses during pouring.

Other methods of curing the resin may be used; e.g., the disposable pattern may be dried, so as to remove all the free water, but not so as to dehydrate it or change its dimensions, the mold surface sprayed with oil, kerosene, or other material which will cause the dry, coated fines to adhere to the surface, the mold otherwise made as described, and the resin cured by dielectric baking, which has been found by thefoundry industry to be a very successful method of curing resins of the type we prefer to use in a matter of arfew minutes. This method has the advantage of a very quick and uniform cure, and very close process control. Or one may use a watersetting resin such as urea-formaldehyde of the so-called synthetic resin powder glues, preferably dissolving in an organic solvent and lacquering the sand grains therewith as above described, applying the dry grains to the pattern as before and then exposing the laquered sand body to Watereither by diffusionfrom the wet pattern or a slurry thereon, or by treatment with saturated steam.

Instead of the fresh plaster used in-the composition for the disposable pattern, second settle plaster can be used, or waste molds can be crushed and sifted and used, advantageously with a portion of fresh plaster, e.g. about /3 used'material to "Vs-fresh material of the composition being used.

Various conventional means have been used to check the accuracy of molds made by the above described methods for making iron castings for tire molds, and they have been found to be accurate and true to a point heretoforeonly achieved with non-ferrous metals by plaster molding-by the method described in U.S. Letters Patent to Morris Bean No. 2,220,703; The bonded sand molds are made, for example, so as to reproduce of the circumference of the tire (six such molds being set in a circle to form the mold for the entire ring casting) and it has been possible to make, any quantity of such molds to meet the following test: I

The finished bonded said mold is fitted into afreshly made (green") disposable pattern made in the 5a comp ex x,

will completely saturate it with water.

13 pattern in'old"as the one used to'make the mold being checked. Any deviation of linear" dimension of any section cutj -through theassembly is .0007" per inch of length ori-less,='-*and' any deviation of surface contour at any point of any section so checked is .005 or less. r-hose familiar with previous possibilities for accuracy in -bonded sand molds'fwill immediately recognize the outstanding advance in the art ofc'asting thus achieved and the great practical importance of this in making practically available castings "which could not be made by conventionalmeans in molds of equivalen size and Whe o the qualityof this exceptional accuracy, is

' ded alsoithequalityof fidelity of surface finish and il,';a; result isobtainedwhich is unique and of exrdinfary practical significance; This is seen to be parnlarly; r ue jwhenit"is realized that the result isobtfa'ined'iby'thethods'which permit'a very highdegreeof 'rfpr odttcibilityand control immanufacturing and with materials whichare cheap'andcommonly available and equipment "which is standard in "most foundries.

w'lhe'pattern in 'this'ca'se was"rnade' on a pattern mold of Korogel (Le. a resilent elastic gel of vinyl chloride and a plasticizer) by casting therein a slurry composed of 50% second settle plaster (Detroit plaster heated at 200 C. for two hours on shallow trays) and 50% calcined and pulverized plaster composition from used plaster molds or patterns (containing 40 percent of calcium sulfate plaster, 50% Ottawa Bond Sand, and talc), all mixed with water to a consistency of 60.

This plaster slurry poured into the Korogel pattern mold is allowed to set and is then removed and immersed in water for minutes, or for such a length of time as The pattern is then removed from the water, quickly drained, and immediately dipped in and out of acetone. It is then blown off with air. This method has the advantage of quickly and uniformly drying the mold surface while leaving the mold body completely saturated with water.

The surface of the disposable pattern is then promptly sprayed with a solution of equal parts of acetone and flexible collodion. A little aluminum powder, red iron oxide, or other suitable pigment may be introduced into the spray to lend visibility to the film being applied.

The surface is then sprayed, immediately, with a slurry consisting of that fraction of Albany Bank Sand which will pass through a 50 mesh screen (it is re-screened to extract any miscellaneous coarse particles), 100 parts, BR18478-2 parts, BR1826 1-1.8 parts, and water to bring the mix to the proper consistency for spraying. It should be pointed out that Albany Bank Sand is very fine, and contains a considerable portion of clay, which lends plasticity to the slurry, and also facilitates the use of the dry and liquid resins in combination. These liquid and dry resins have proven wholly unsatisfactory when mixed together in a conventional core sand, for example, because the two resins tends to combine into small taify-like lumps about in diameter, which it is'not feasible to re-distribute. In the presence of the very fine particles, such as clay, however a homogeneous mixture of the two resins has been obtained.

The slurry coat is sprayed on to the surface of the disposable pattern to the desired thickness (advantageously .005" to .020 and in any case less than about 0.1" as uniformly as possible. Before the slurry coat :14 This example may be modified in various ways: Other parting'coatings maybe used, e.g.," the surface of the disposable pattern may be sprayed with a fine suspension of graphite powder inwater until'the molding surface of the pattern is fully and uniformly covered, and presents 'a dense, black'appearance. 'This layer is as thin as is consistent withcomplete and uniform covering of has a chanceto dry, it is backed up by pouring over it the surface (not over .003"). This ;is then sprayed with a water solution of green soap which diffuses through the graphite layer and apparently reactswith the calcium 'at the surface of the mold ,is produce a calciumsoap precipitate which bonds the' g'raphite onto the face of the pattern.- Red' iron oxide, aluminum paint powder, alumina, and other fine,refractory powders .maybeused in like manner to form'a parting layer, reproducefaithfully the surface of the pattern, and to form the outermos't jsurface layer of the casting mold, since it is held by the-resin in the, slurry coatwhen the pattern material is di sinte'gr'ated'and removed. n Otherfinelydivided refractories may be used in the slurryfcoat, e.g.,, a good slurry, can be made with 1 0 parts pigment grade red iro n oxide, parts silica flour, 4 parts-"BR18478, 3.6 partsBR1826l, and water to bring vaporizable liquid vehicle, such as kerosene or No. 2

diesel oil.

Instead of spraying the slurry coat onto the surface of, the disposable pattern, it may be poured over the surface of the pattern, and then poured out. It will thus leave a uniform layer over the pattern surface, the thickness of which can be predetermined by the viscosity of the slurry. The addition of a wetting agent to the slurry, e.g., Tergitol 08, will aid in the distribution of the slurry over the pattern surface when thus applied, and will aid in the elimination of bubbles.

Instead of using a coatedsand backup, it may be desirable in some cases to use a more conventional core mix which contains some liquid to give it some stickiness and consequent green strength. The damp backup will be harder to pack uniformly behind the slurry coat, though a small sand slinger has been found to be an aid inthis step, but it will have the advantage of requiring less support to hold it in place, and other advantages familiar to experienced foundrymen.

Other modifications of Example 1 may obviously be used in this Example 2.

Using the procedure of Example 2 and using a horsehide softball as the pattern, it was possible to reproduce every visible detail of the surface of the leather, and of the sewing thread, notwithstanding the fact that the casting was made of gray iron cast in the bonded sand mold.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the invention makes possible for formation of accurate and smooth molds of a wide variety of sizes and design of high permeability (for example, exceeding A.F.A. 50) made 'up of refractory particles and a thermo-set-ting binder and formed over a one-piece wasteable pattern even though it may have undercuts such that a rigid pattern cannot be withdrawn as such from the mold. This application is a division of my prior copending application Serial No. 199,006, filed December 4, 1950. This application has issued as Patent 2,836,867 granted June 3, 1958. r

I claim:

1. A casting mold the walls of which are composed of grains of sand which have been individually pre-coated with dry films of thermosetting resin binder adhering to aa ersea Said a n h bin r On a iiae ra ns bein bonded together and tiher rnosje t around thepoints of contact and the fijln s between said contact points being so thin as to leave substantial open interstices for escape of gases through said mold.

, 2. A mold having a molding surface of permeability in ez i cess of 10 on the American Foundrymens Association scale, composed of a refractory flake type pigment exposed at the molding surface and conforming precisely to the desired'minuteldetail of a surface, it is desired to mold, ,a nd amold wall supporting said pigment composed of refractory granules substantially contacting one another andsaid pigment, and being cemented at the points of contact by thin films of an indurated thermoset ting bonding resin coating said granules and merged together at said points. 1 i

3. A mold which comprises a layer of refractory granules conformingsubstantially to a surface which is to be formed by the mold, and individually coated by, andbonded to one another by, films of thermo-setting bonding resin, and'refractory pigment lying precisely at said surface bonded adjacent said surface by the resin films tin said ,granules but said pigment not being covered by the resin, whereby the pigment forms a no nadhesive coveringover said bonded granules but leaves open pa e o cape se from the mo d avity hrou h he esul u old ody.

A st meld ac rdi g t v la 1 having nserted in the walls thereof and projecting therefrom rigid inserts bonded to said sand. Z

5. A casting mold according to claim 1 having inserted in said walls thereof and projecting therefrom inserts of austenitic steel bonded to said sand.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Fiat Final Regort, No. 11 68,-pages. 1--6, by Wm. McCulloch. 

1. A CASTING MOLD THE WALLS OF WHICH ARE COMPOSED OF GRAINS OF SAND WHICH HAVE BEEN INDIVIDUALLY PRE-COATED WITH DRY FILMS OF THERMOSETTING RESIN BINDER ADHERING TO SAID GRAINS, THE BINDER ON ADJACENT GRAINS BEING BONDED TOGETHER AND THERMOSET AROUND THE POINTS OF CONTACT AND THE FILMS BETWEEN SAID CONTACT POINTS BEING SO THIN AS TO LEAVE SUBSTANTIAL OPEN INTERSTICES FOR ESCAPE OF GASES THROUGH SAID MOLD. 